


Reading People

by sanctuary_for_all



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 18:50:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16645805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: What Queenie was really thinking during "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald." (Spoilers for the movie, along with what I consider to be a healthy dose of fix-it.)





	Reading People

**Author's Note:**

> (More spoilers in the rant about to follow.) Queenie is a TELEPATH. Supposedly, a really good one. The Harry Potter-land ability to block magical telepaths is supposedly very rare. Yes, Grindewald can do it, but is J.K. Whatthehell SERIOUSLY trying to tell me that Queenie couldn't pick up malevolent intent from ANYONE else in Bleachface's little murder crew? ANY OF THEM? REALLY?
> 
> So. That's why this fic happened. I fully expect it to be Jossed by the next movie, but I love Queenie and this was the only way I could calm myself the hell down.

Even the nicest people thought bad things sometimes. 

As a legilimens, that was a truth you had to accept as early as you could. The fact that they only thought the bad thing was a sign of just how nice they were, at least usually, because you sometimes can't stop yourself from thinking things but you can definitely stop yourself from saying them. Queenie reminded herself of that regularly, especially because the only other option was being sad and angry all the time. There were already too many sad things in the world to add more to the list. 

But Queenie could keep secrets, too. She didn't tell many people about her powers, keeping it only for the people whose thoughts told her she could trust them. She knew it was probably written down somewhere, so she made sure people forgot it by cultivating the kind of ditzy image that no one took seriously. When they thought she was too dumb to understand what was going on right in front of her, they didn't worry that she was hearing all their secrets. 

Admittedly, sitting in the middle of a Paris street crying her eyes out wasn't the smartest thing in the world to have done. But she never felt so lost as when she was completely alone, and losing the sound of Jacob's voice -- or hallucinating it completely -- had been the last straw in a very tough week. With the babble of French thoughts surrounding her, it was easy to miss the woman until she spoke out loud. 

But what most people didn't understand is that thoughts were hardly ever neat little words lined up in a row. They were a jumble, pictures and words and sounds all colored with these little tastes of feeling that clung to the thoughts like streamers. That's why it was so hard for people who dug through people's heads searching for one little fact. Queenie had learned a long time ago that you understood people a lot better when you looked at everything they tied together. 

And this woman? Her words might have been sweet, and her thoughts might have been French, but everything attached to those thoughts was full of blood and death. A nice-looking couple, killed in their house. A baby, who the woman looked the same way she would a piece of garbage. 

So Queenie smiled, and let the woman lead her to the house the nice couple had owned. Better to be a guest than a prisoner, and a duel was out of the question. She was no fighter, and she knew it. She kept the act up even when Grindlewald appeared, and let the tears come when he told her he wanted to make a world where wizards could love who they chose.

She  _wanted_ him to be telling the truth, wanted the silent shield of his mind to be hiding sweetness, but all his followers had the same flavor to their thoughts. Blood and pain, and all of it with a smile. You understood people a lot better when you looked at everything they tied together, and no one who tied himself to these people really cared anything about love. He just saw her softness, and her sadness, and guessed what might draw her to his side. He might even remember Jacob, though only as the human who had been with Tina and Newt the last time they fought. 

But she couldn't stay where she was, breaking her heart every day by fighting with the two people who meant the most to her in all the world. She knew how much they both loved her, but they also saw her as something soft that needed to be protected from what she wanted more than anything. Worse, they thought she was crazy for wanting it in the first place. 

She couldn't even tell herself they would be safe, because Tina would be in the fight against Grindlewald as long as it lasted. Newt would probably follow Tina, even if he didn't fight for himself, and Jacob would probably end up following Newt. They'd all be in the middle of danger, even as they tried so hard to keep her out of it.

Queenie was no fighter. But she'd spent her whole life making sure no one ever looked beneath the surface of her smiles, seeing her only as a sweet, ditzy girl who could never be a risk to anyone. Grindlewald thought the same thing, thinking a few sweet words would be enough to make her forget everything else.

So she went to the meeting, and she said all the right things even to the people she was usually honest with. A part of her hated lying to Jacob, but another part of her thought it wasn't such a bad thing for him to feel as sad as she did. For him to want something with all his heart, and feel absolutely helpless to get it. 

Tina would be sad, too, though she'd hide it better than Jacob. But if she got a message one day with information about something Grindlewald was doing, she'd be too smart to ignore it. And if Grindlewald tried to lead them into a trap, she could send a message to escape. Sisters had a language no one else could share. 

And if the chance came for her to end it all... She didn't know if she could kill Grindlewald, but a week ago she hadn't known she could do _this_ , either. She might be crazy, but this way she could actually _do_ something. 

Besides, they wouldn't throw a war hero into Azkeban for marrying a no-maj, would they? She'd be free, in exactly the way Grindlewald had promised her. He just couldn't imagine she would be the one doing the killing.

After all, even the nicest people thought bad things sometimes. And Queenie was very, very good at keeping secrets.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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